Pumpkin Girl

In a Yemeni village, there lived a very beautiful girl named Zahra, who was an orphan with only one brother, named Hamid.

Hamid fell in love with a girl and married her. However, his wife was not as pure-hearted as Zahra. Instead, she began to burn with jealousy over Zahra’s beauty.

What infuriated Hamid's wife the most were the villagers' conversations praising Zahra’s good character. She tried every trick in the book to prove to the villagers that Zahra was a girl without principles and naive, but she failed because the villagers knew Zahra well.

The situation worsened one day when Hamid's wife was sitting with some of the village women discussing various stories. She pretended to be kind and virtuous, hoping they would forget Zahra and her beauty. However, the women continued to praise Zahra, which made Hamid's wife furious. She rushed home, determined to put Zahra in great trouble. I should have mentioned that Hamid's wife practiced witchcraft; she took a rooster, slaughtered it in the bathroom, and the bathroom filled with its blood. She then scattered the feathers and the rooster, making it appear as if the bathroom was filled with human blood. She left the bathroom to fetch her magic book to cast a spell. In the meantime, Zahra, the kind-hearted, entered the bathroom and was horrified by the sight of the blood. As she tried to leave, she slipped and fell into the blood, staining her clothes.

When Hamid's wife came back with the book and saw Zahra covered in blood, she was shocked. Zahra was also shocked to see Hamid's wife holding a book of magic. Fearful of the book, Zahra wanted to show Hamid the true nature of his wife. She screamed loudly, causing Hamid's wife to quickly hide the book and return to see Zahra crying. Then, Hamid’s voice was heard knocking at the door. Fearing that he would punish her if he found out about her witchcraft, Hamid’s wife thought of a clever scheme to escape her predicament. But what should she do?

She decided to falsely accuse Zahra of adultery, claiming she was pregnant and had miscarried. The blood covering her was supposedly from the miscarriage, and this was the best evidence. Hamid’s wife used her cunning and came up with a plan to make her husband believe her. She started shouting, “Oh, Hamid! We’re doomed! We’re doomed! Come see this disaster! Oh, God! Come, Hamid, and see what Zahra has done, the girl we thought was well-raised.”

Zahra was stunned by the enormity of the deceit, and she cried in sorrow and frustration over her evil sister-in-law. Hamid rushed and broke the door when he heard his wife's screaming. When he arrived, he was shocked to see Zahra crying, her clothes covered in blood, and saw his wife faking tears, holding a gun, thinking that a lion might have attacked them. Hamid's wife said, “Look at your sister; she has disgraced our honor and trampled it into the dirt. It seems she was pregnant and miscarried.” Hamid was shocked; how could his sister be pregnant while unmarried? He pointed his gun at Zahra and demanded, “Explain how your clothes are stained with blood. Who made you commit such a shameful act?”

Zahra pleaded, “I didn’t do anything. Believe me, she is lying; she’s a witch. Hamid, please believe me!” Hamid interrupted, “And you dare accuse her of lying because she revealed your true nature, you wicked adulteress? Tell me, where did your clothes get stained with blood? Who manipulated you into committing such a sin?” Zahra replied, “Believe me, I slipped in the bathroom, and there was blood. I don’t know where it came from.” But her words did not convince her brother, and he ended up killing her without a second thought.

Hamid’s wife was delighted with the result, especially since if she hadn’t deceived him with her cunning, she would have been exposed for practicing witchcraft, which had severe penalties at the time. Because Hamid loved her madly, he saw her as an angel who could do no wrong, so he believed his wife and killed his sister, whom their father had entrusted to him before his death.

Covering Up Mistakes

Hamid buried Zahra with her clothes and the shawl on her head without caring or following the funeral rites. He claimed she was dirty and unworthy. The shawl Zahra wore had a pocket, which was filled with pumpkin seeds. A villager passing by accidentally dropped a water bottle on her grave or the hole where she was buried. The cap of the bottle came off, and the water spilled onto the grave, reaching the seeds. The seeds germinated and grew into a large pumpkin. The villagers continued to water it, and it became a large pumpkin.

The pumpkin was under the balcony of an elderly woman’s house. She admired the pumpkin and decided to cut it. As she swung her axe to cut the pumpkin's root, she heard a voice saying, “Ouch,” like a child crying in pain. The voice seemed to come from the pumpkin. The old woman saw a red liquid oozing from the pumpkin like blood, and she was frightened. She stopped and returned to her spacious home, but she couldn’t resist her desire for the pumpkin. She thought about the voice and the blood and was scared, but her desire overcame her fear. She devised a cunning plan by bringing a blind man so he wouldn’t see the blood when cutting the pumpkin.

Indeed, the blind man struck the pumpkin with the axe for the first and second times without seeing the blood, but he stopped when he heard the screaming from the pumpkin. Terrified, he fled. The old woman was left with her disappointment.

The next day, the old woman brought a deaf man so he wouldn’t hear the voice. He struck the axe once and twice but stopped when he saw the blood coming from the pumpkin. Frightened, he ran away.

On the third day, the old woman brought a man who was both deaf and blind. He cut the pumpkin without caring and took it to her house. She placed it on the roof to dry and turn it into a jar.

The old woman left the pumpkin for days without even checking it, probably forgetting about it entirely because she was constantly busy. She was a wealthy old woman with many tasks. She would leave in the morning and return in the afternoon, noticing nothing strange. The house was large, and she cleaned half of it, leaving the rest for the next day. When she returned, the house was clean and tidy, even the part she hadn’t cleaned. The food was always missing, and sometimes she would leave without cleaning, but upon returning, the house was sparkling clean.

One day, the old woman thought deeply. She didn’t have any maid. So, who was cleaning the house? She decided to uncover the secret.

The next day, the old woman went out and decided to return early. She returned early, sneaking into the house and hiding. After a while, she heard cleaning sounds from the room in front of her. She looked towards the door and was shocked to see a moon-like girl cleaning. After she finished cleaning, she took some food and hurried to the roof. The old woman followed her and found her hiding in the pumpkin. She revealed her and promised not to harm her if she told her name. Zahra told her that her name was Zahra and recounted her story with her brother’s wife. The old woman took a mirror and gave it to her, saying, “Look at your beautiful face, Mashallah.” Zahra looked and was shocked by her changed appearance and golden hair. But what shocked Zahra even more was the passage of time—two years had passed since her brother buried her.

Zahra lived with the old woman, serving her. They grew to love each other. By coincidence, Hamid moved his house next to the old woman’s house. Among the belongings, Hamid found the book of magic. He reprimanded his wife but didn’t believe that she had become a witch. He would often watch from the window, seeing a beautiful girl like an angel hanging clothes on the lines to dry. He decided to visit the old woman, intrigued by the girl. The old woman had no children or daughters; she lived alone for years. Hamid knocked on the door, and the old woman asked, “Who is it?” Hamid said, “Open up, Auntie. I’m Hamid. I’d like to talk to you.” The old woman was suspicious of his visit and refused to open the door, fearing he might discover the truth about Zahra. Hamid left disappointed and kept watching the old woman’s roof. He noticed that the beautiful girl (Zahra) no longer went up to the roof, and he was deeply saddened. He loved her madly without knowing she was his sister, whom he had killed in fear of disgrace.

Hamid was infatuated with this girl, not knowing she was his sister because she had changed so much! Hamid was obsessed with this girl and decided to have her by any means. Hamid’s wife noticed his distraction at the window and chose to ignore it to maintain their marriage.

One day, as usual, Hamid watched to see if the beautiful girl would come to the roof. He saw the old woman returning to her house from afar and decided to confront her and enter with her. He hurried to her house, and when the old woman stopped in front of her house, he heard him say, “Stop, Auntie. I want to talk to you.” The old woman tried to ignore him, but Hamid was insistent. She let him into her house. He began to question her about the beautiful girl he had been admiring from afar.

The old woman didn’t want to reveal Zahra’s true identity. She tried to distract him with the story of a beautiful girl who had been living with her for years. She asked him, “Do you want to know about the girl?” Hamid replied, “Yes, tell me about her.” The old woman began to tell him that she had taken the girl in and cared for her after the girl’s family had abandoned her. She recounted Zahra’s tragic story and how she had become a beautiful, hardworking girl.

Hamid was moved by the old woman’s story. He offered to help her and asked if he could meet the girl. The old woman hesitated but eventually allowed him to meet Zahra. Hamid, deeply affected by the girl’s story, fell in love with her instantly. Zahra, recognizing Hamid from her past, was torn between revealing her true identity and protecting herself. She was afraid that Hamid might react violently, given their history.

The old woman noticed the tension between them and decided to intervene. She revealed Zahra’s true identity to Hamid. Shocked and remorseful, Hamid was devastated to learn that the girl he loved was his own sister. He deeply regretted his actions and asked for Zahra’s forgiveness. Zahra, although hurt and betrayed, forgave her brother. Hamid vowed to make amends for his past mistakes and honor Zahra’s memory.

The story of Zahra and Hamid became a tale of redemption and forgiveness in the village. Hamid’s wife was exposed for her witchcraft and deceit, and the villagers realized the truth about Zahra’s innocence. Hamid lived the rest of his life trying to make up for his past wrongs, and Zahra’s memory was honored as a symbol of resilience and forgiveness.